Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 10

Dragonshy
-
part 5

“Wake up, slackers! We’ve got trouble ahead!” Rainbow Dash called behind her, maintaining her defensive stance as she slowly backed up.

Overwatch and Fluttershy groaned. The guard mare lit her horn as she sprung to her feet, illuminating a platoon of diamond dogs aiming their spears at them.

“Ummm… maybe they're friendly,” Fluttershy said as she slowly approached the dogs despite Rainbow Dash’s warning glare. “Hello there, my name’s Fluttershy.” She gestured to her companions, smiling sweetly. “My friends and I would like to pass through your tunnels to meet the dragon and ask him kindly to leave before he hurts anypony in Ponyville. C-can you let us pass, please?”

A few of diamond dogs went speechless, but one of them stepped forward and smacked Fluttershy in the face with a paw, sending her flying back into Rainbow Dash, who caught her midair.

Overwatch’s horn brightened further into a menacing green, casting an otherworldly sheen over her dark fur. “Ahh,” she said, her mouth curling up into a predatory grin, “so we’ve chosen the hard way, have we?”

Rainbow Dash promptly dropped Fluttershy to the ground and shoulder-checked the lead diamond dog, tossing him into his compatriots behind him. “That's for slapping Fluttershy, you big jerk! Nopony bullies her when I’m around.”

Two more diamond dogs advanced on Rainbow Dash and aimed their spears at her, only to bowled over by well-placed arcane bolts. Before the other dogs could react, Overwatch’s precise shots and Rainbow Dash’s quick strikes began to incapacitate any within range, save for a few who decided that the easy way was perhaps the best and dropped their spears and sat next to the nice pegasus.

Thus disarmed, the conscious diamond dogs took their leave, hauling their unconscious comrades with them.

Overwatch rolled her neck, eliciting a few pops from it, and brushed some of the dirt out of her scarf. “Of course. The one day I decide not to bring my armor because I needed to climb a mountain, I get tackled like some rookie on a hoofball field. I was going to be ten miles away from a dragon taking potshots, not wrestling puppies underground.”

Rainbow Dash was still flying, throwing jabs at imaginary foes. “That was good! I needed to kick some flank after all that boring climbing. Now,” she said, before turning to the rest of the cavern, “which tunnel do we take?”

Overwatch winced as she turned her attention to the countless tunnels over the area. “I have a… sorta scanning spell. We’ll use that to help us navigate and find the others,” she said, pointedly ignoring Fluttershy’s close scrutiny of her. “Let’s be off before they bring back more spirited dogs to blast.”

“What just happened?” Twilight wheezed out, coughing to clear out some of the dust in her lungs. She shook her head and lit her tiny horn as brightly as she could.

Big Macintosh and Steel Blade stood ahead of her in a defensive formation. She rounded their hooves to take a better look at the foes they were facing, finding at least thirteen so-called diamond dogs, armed with spears, helmets, and basic armor. From her new vantage point, she caught sight of torches lining the walls, and she promptly lit the closest few with a few well-aimed fireballs.

“Ponies enter our home. Ponies now dig gems for us,” a diamond dog said as he aimed his spear at the big red stallion, “or ponies gets hurt.”

Big Mac stomped a hoof on the ground hard, causing a little cloud of dust to pop up and causing Twilight to cough again. “Ah don’t think so.”

Steel Blade spread his wings threateningly. “I was told I was average for a Royal Guard, but you’re going to need more if you want an even match.”

Steel Blade took off into the air, and Twilight jumped onto Big Mac and used her magic to redirect any javelins thrown by the dogs into thin air. With heavy, hard-hitting swings of his mighty hooves, the red stallion punched two of his foes away, tossing them away like ragdolls.

The attackers switched tactics, now keeping at a distance and jabbing at him with their spears. Twilight changed her own plans, focusing her magic on slowing them down instead. The diamond dogs struggled to raise their legs as if moving through molasses, and they soon found themselves in the path of a pain train in the shape of a large stallion. Three more dogs lost consciousness, taken down at the same time with a single swing. Javelins bounced from his body, leaving hardly any marks on his skin as he barreled forward.

Steel Blade found it difficult to attack the diamond dogs from the air, their long spears effective in deterring a flying target. Instead, he took out his sword and began to slice at the hafts of their spears from a safe distance. When enough of his hecklers found themselves either weaponless or forced to try and deal with the other threat, he dove in with a flying kick against his foes, though after only a couple hits against the diamond dogs’ helmets, his armored horseshoes bent into an unusable state.

“I knew I should have taken the magic-enhanced models,” Steel Blade grumbled as he shucked off the useless hoofguard and flung it into the face of the closest dog.

“Need a hoof?” Big Mac called out as he charged into the remaining diamond dogs. Reacting quickly, Steel Blade sheathed his sword as he dove down in front of the escaping forces. Kicking up a headless spear shaft from the ground, he set upon tripping the distracted dogs, letting the unstoppable red force of nature knock the rest unconscious.

They looked at each other with a grin and nodded, but their moment of victory didn’t last long. Several tunnels were scattered all over the place, separating them from the rest of the team.

Twilight sighed before drawing up her magic, using her scanning and tracking spell to search for her missing friends.

“Now you ponies dig gems for us,” the diamond dog ordered before narrowing his eyes and pointing at the griffon. “You are not pony.”

“Wow, were you born this dumb, or did you have to work at it?” Gilda asked with a roll of her eyes as the diamond dogs aimed their spears at them. “Oh, so you want a piece of me, is that it? Come and take it.” She scowled at them, brandishing her sharp talons threateningly.

“Who would want a piece of you,” Pinkie asked to the griffon’s exasperated groan, “if they could have a piece of cake instead!” She pulled out a cake from nowhere and presented to the attackers.

Gilda facepalmed and frowned. “Pinkie, I’m trying to be threatening, and you’re ruining the mood.”

“May I suggest focusing on the problem at hoof?” Cadence interrupted as she took a few steps ahead of the group and waved cheerfully to their assailants. “I’m afraid I don’t know much about finding gems, and I don’t remember the last time I dug up any. Furthermore, we’re on a very important mission to stop a dragon from attacking Ponyville, so please, would you let us pass through your tunnels peacefully?”

She let out a squeak when one of the dogs strode forward and grabbed her by the neck. “You enter our caves, you our slaves. Dragon too big to enter cave.”

Before Cadence could respond, Gilda clawed out the dog’s face and kicked him towards the armed group with a back leg. “Don’t waste your breath. They’re so dumb and short sighted that they’ll give Pinkie a run for her bits.”

The hostile creatures growled in anger as they leveled several spears at the three ponies, and Cadence stepped ahead of the griffon, spreading her wings. "Stand back," she said, scanning over the dogs before her. "I don't want to hurt any of you, but I will have no choice if you won't leave." Her horn charged as she considered the non-lethal spells she’d learned.

“Cake?” Pinkie asked as she emerged from behind a diamond dog, holding out an entire red velvet cake.

“Awww, Just a piece? It tastes better than a piece of Gilda!” Pinkie tossed the cake into the dog’s face.

Gilda stared in disbelief before something brushed her from the side, causing her to jump forward in surprise. She wheeled around on Pinkie, who whispered at her very loudly from the side of her mouth, “It seems that they won’t let us pass.”

“You don’t say,” Gilda said with a deadpan expression, before turning to the confused alicorn. “Now with that out of the way, can you return to your kicking-flank mode and help me beat them up?” She grinned as she lightly punched Cadence’s shoulder. “Come on, winged unicorn or whatever you’re called, Twilight said you’re tough, so let's see some fireworks!”

Diamond Dogs aimed their spears and charged as Cadence prepared her attack, hoping that her spell will manage to put them to sleep.

“Hey Gilda, wanna see a magic trick?” Pinkie popped up beside Gilda holding another cake, though this time, it was vanilla spotted with small strawberries and plenty of frosting.

The pink alicorn promptly received a cake to the face, blinding her. She felt something wrap around her neck, and she let out a surprised squawk along with her spell. Wrestled around by the other being, she continued firing off shots, ignoring the yips of the dogs around her as she fought to get free.

Cadence was released after a short moment, and she immediately wiped off the rest of the frosting in her face.

The first thing she saw was Pinkie, smiling innocently at her. The second thing she saw was Gilda, who wore a look of disbelief with her mouth open.

The alicorn finally turned around and found the rest of the cavern littered with groaning diamond dogs.

Cadence turned back at the pink pony as a piece of cake flopped out of her mane and onto the dirt floor. “Pinkie, what did you do?”

"She just used you like a..." Gilda raised a claw and shook her head. “Nevermind, you don’t want to know.”

Cadence recovered from the shock she was in and began levitating out the remaining pieces of cake from her fur and mane. “Can you keep what just happened here just between us then, please?”

Pinkie nodded. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” She pressed a cupcake against her closed eye, before licking it clean a moment later.

Cadence and Gilda shared a look with each other and shrugged before turning to the numerous tunnels.

The alicorn cast a tracking spell to search for others, and the group set off through one of the tunnels.

They wound through the tunnels for a while before Cadence felt something bounce off her hoof. She looked down, finding Twilight in a pile of limbs nearby and shaking her head.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” Twilight was interrupted when she was pulled into Cadence by a wing, now pressed between the alicorn’s warm, fluffy chest and soft feathers.

“Twilight, I am so glad you’re okay,” Cadence said before looking down the tunnel Twilight galloped from. Big Mac and Steel Blade came around the corner, the former looking no worse for wear while the latter sported dented armor and a missing hoof guard. “Have an unfortunate encounter with the diamond dogs as well?”

Steel Blade nodded. “Pretty much. They caught us off guard at first, but once they lost the element of surprise, it was pretty easy to clean up afterwards.”

Cadence sighed in relief before she felt movement between her wing and chest. She looked down, and Twilight’s head emerged from under her hug.

“I’m glad they didn’t harm any of you,” Twilight said as she pulled out her forelegs and freed herself, now standing on Cadence’s wing. “I’m sure Overwatch and Rainbow Dash can protect themselves, but I’m worried about Fluttershy. We need to regroup with them quickly.”

Cadence nodded as she levitated Twilight onto her head, placing next to her horn as she recast her spell.

Twilight sniffed at her ride’s mane. “Cadence, you smell different. Did you bring another perfume? I don’t remember you smelling like vanilla before.”

“You sure your tracking spell works? It’s… just another dead end,” Rainbow Dash remarked in annoyance as Overwatch frowned at her.

“My spell works just fine. There just happens to be a million tons of rock in the way,” she said with a huff. “Not to mention the hundreds of diamond dogs in these tunnels. It takes time to tell them apart, though I’m sure if I follow the trail of unconscious dogs…”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Your tracking spell points behind this wall, right?”

Overwatch frowned at Rainbow. “Do I look like Twilight or Cadence to you? I’m a sniper, not a walking cannon.”

Fluttershy turned her attention towards Rainbow Dash. “Dash, can you scout ahead and check the tunnels around here? Maybe one leads around this wall.”

Rainbow Dash was once again taken aback by her friend’s assertiveness, but saluted with a grin. “Consider it done, Sir Flutters.”

The blue pegasus zipped off, and Fluttershy moved in front of Overwatch, glaring at her.

“Okay, this is getting really old,” Overwatch said with narrowed eyes. “You have been glaring daggers at me this entire time. If you have something to say, say it.”

“I said,” Fluttershy spoke again, this time with a little more force, “where is the real Overwatch?”

Fluttershy stood on her hind legs, her forelegs on her hips as she gave Overwatch a hostile glare. “I know your secret.”

“Don’t play dumb, changeling! Which hive are you from? And what do you want from—”

“Nothing but dead ends,” Rainbow stated as she flew out of one of the tunnels, though she started when she saw Fluttershy towering over Overwatch. “Did I miss anything?”

Fluttershy sat back. “Err, not really. We just… tried to talk over a few disagreements, that's all.”

“I think…” Overwatch began as she lit her horn again. “I think that our friends have already regrouped and are trying to find us. Let’s try to retrace our steps. Maybe it’ll be easier for them if we went back.”

Both pegasi nodded, and the group set out with Fluttershy and Overwatch watching each other closely.

“This is taking forever,” Rainbow Dash groaned. Her wings fluttered restlessly as she looked between the tunnels.

“You don’t need to wait for us,” Overwatch said, motioning towards one of the tunnels. “Scout ahead, and if you find anypony, you can lead them back to us, and if they find us, we’ll just wait for you.”

“Sounds like a plan.” The impatient pegasus flew into the tunnel pointed out by Overwatch.

As soon as Dash disappeared, the two remaining mares squared up against each other, trading glares.

Fluttershy’s ears fell back and her wings spread aggressively as she asked, “What do you want from Twilight and where is the real Overwatch?”

“I could be asking you the same question,” the guard responded. “I overheard your conversation with Twilight. I wasn’t making a big deal out of it since she trusted you, but now I find your behavior to be very odd.”

“Y-you… overheard it?” Fluttershy asked as she stepped back, her wings closing up.

“I have my ways. So what happened to the shy, scared pegasus? Is your personality just a facade? Are you just pretending to be cute, cowardly, and vulnerable just to gain the trust of others?” Overwatch asked, taking a step forward.

“I’m the one asking questions here! When Twilight told me that our magics were similar, I knew you were a changeling. Now spill! What did you do with Overwatch? Tell me, or I will expose your true identity!”

Overwatch scowled. “Then I expose yours too, but forgive me if I don’t seem eager to play your silly infiltrator games. I’ve had quite enough of those for a lifetime.”

“Why should I care what you believe?” Overwatch asked. “Last time I met changelings from an unknown hive, they tried to kill me. You’re the one acting odd, hiding your true self behind the mask of a fragile pony. Why should I trust you? Why are you here? Who are you, really?”

The yellow pegasus fluffed up her chest. “I have always been Fluttershy. I’m not pretending to be somepony else, but I can’t be cowardly when my friend is in danger,” Fluttershy said, pawing at the ground as if ready to charge.

“You took the place of Twilight’s guard. I don’t know why you’re there, but I will do whatever it takes to protect her from the likes of you.”

The charcoal unicorn snorted. “And you’re the one to do that, even assuming my hostile intent?”

“I’m the only pony who knows the truth, the only one who can do it,” Fluttershy uttered. “You have no idea how terrified I am of facing a grown-up dragon, how much effort it takes for me to hide my fears, but I want to protect my cuddly, kind, little friend. So speak, why are you here?”

Overwatch smirked. “To protect her, exactly as I promised when she first became Celestia’s student. If I wanted to hurt her, I’ve had over a decade to make my move and plenty of better opportunities.”

“Hey guys, look who I found!” Dash said as she flew out from a faraway tunnel, pointing at the group following her, who waved at them. “They found the exit! Follow us, and let’s get out of here.”

Overwatch turned from Dash to Fluttershy. “We’ll talk later, privately, after we save Twilight from the dragon.” She took a few steps towards Rainbow, only to stop when she noticed Fluttershy wasn’t following her. The guard mare turned back, finding that Fluttershy had begun trembling again. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? We’re about to face a humongous dragon,” the pegasus stammered out.

“What happened to the fearless Fluttershy dedicated to protecting cute, cuddly, little Twilight?”

Fluttershy gulped. “There’s a big difference between facing a changeling and a dragon. Ooh, what have I gotten myself into?” she said, biting her lower lip.

Overwatch rolled her eyes and began to pull Fluttershy along with her magic, leaving trails in the ground from her victim’s hooves.

Everypony once again stood at the entrance to the diamond dog cave. They heaved a collective sigh as they looked up the remaining path.

“Did you find any treasure? After all, what kind of dungeon crawl would it be without finding a little treasure on a side quest?”

“Pinkie,” Twilight said, catching the mare’s attention, “I know I’m going to regret this, but… can you please explain.”

“Of course, Twilight!” Pinkie said with an eager smile. “We’re on an adventure to slay a dragon, but you can’t reach the boss without good old dungeon crawling and level grinding,” Pinkie gestured at the cave. “A moment ago, we entered a dungeon, split up into three parties, and faced the diamond dogs, and now we’re a high enough level to beat the boss!”

“If that was enough to level us up, I’m starting to think we were severely underleveled to begin with,” Overwatch said, leaning away from Pinkie.

Steel Blade turned to the unicorn guard. “Ahh, right, you were a big Ogres and Oubliettes player back in the day, weren’t you?”

Overwatch shot him a look. “That was more than a decade ago, and it was mostly my… friends dragging me into their roleplay sessions.” She shrugged. “It was good acting practice, at least.”

Twilight piped up. “Oh yeah, I remember Shining being interested in something like this. So what kind of party do we have here?”

Pinkie reappeared behind Gilda. “It’s obvious, isn’t it? I’m the kooky bard, Gilda’s the monk, and Cadence is the sorcerer. Party number one.”

Gilda turned around, but Pinkie was no longer there. “Big Mac’s the big, beefy barbarian, Twilight’s the wizard, and Steel Blade’s an average fighter.”

“‘Average’? Is that going to be a recurring joke around me?” Steel Blade asked.

Pinkie jumped from Big Mac towards Rainbow Dash. “And we can’t forget the ranger, the rogue, and the shy druid,” she said, motioning towards the last group. Fluttershy jumped back a little when PInkie thrust a hoof at her.

Pinkie pirouetted into the middle of the group. “Add that all up, and you get… treasure!”

Right on cue, a minecart full of gems rolled out of the tunnel entrance and came to a stop right beside Pinkie.

Steel Blade looked between the pink earth pony and the minecart. “Are you sure you’re not the wizard?”

Gilda pinched the bridge of her beak, just between her eyes. “Can we just get on with it?” She pointed towards the path up the mountain. “We wasted a bunch of time doing nothing, and we’re not getting any farther up the mountain staring at Pinkie.”

Ponyville's Tiny Librarian

by CommanderX5

Ch 10 - Dragonshy - Part 5